Joshua 7:10-15
Summons of God to Action
In 'Summons of God to Action,' Pastor Albert N. Martin expounds Joshua 7:10-15, detailing God's command to Israel to sanctify themselves and purge Achan's sin. He argues that corporate sin requires corporate responsibility and discipline, drawing parallels to New Testament church discipline passages like Matthew 18, 2 Thessalonians 3, and 1 Corinthians 5. Martin emphasizes that God's method of inquisition reveals His sovereignty, omniscience, and gracious offer of space for repentance, urging both believers to deal with hidden sin and unbelievers to heed the call to salvation before judgment.
Primary Texts
Topics
Outline 10 sections · 54 min
- Introduction: The Sin of Achan and God's Ultimatum 0:06
- God's Summons to Action: To Whom It Came 4:05
- Reasons for Corporate Involvement in Purging Sin 8:05
- New Testament Warrant for Corporate Church Discipline 11:49
- Directives of the Summons: Call to Sanctification 21:58
- Application of Sanctification: Prioritizing God's Dealings 28:36
- Directives of the Summons: Pattern for Inquisition 34:13
- Purpose of the Inquisition: God's Sovereignty, Omniscience, and Mercy 39:32
- Contemporary Application: Dealing with God, His Nature, and Repentance 44:19
- Prayer for Mercy and Obedience 52:17
Key Quotes
“The frightening prospect that the presence of God in power, is withdrawn from any community of people in covenant relationship to God, who will not deal with their sin.”
“The purging of the sin of one man in the covenant community is the corporate responsibility of the whole community.”
“And all the attempts in the books on church order to say, well, the church means the church representatively in terms of its elders, is a mere butchering of the scriptures.”
“It's a sad thing to say it's possible to go to a church for 50 years and never once have the old round of activities interrupted. And crisis after crisis can pass us in the world and in the church. And we never sanctify ourselves unto the Lord.”
“And then the third reason for God dealing this way is a gracious one. God was granting space for repentance.”
“Let me ask you this morning, have you had direct, personal, inward, experimental, vital dealings with God? Or you just had dealings with the pew, warming it for an hour and a half?”
“If you don't start dealing with those Babylonish garments, those wedges of gold and shekels of silver, mark my word, some of you are going to feel the sting of God's rod of chastisement.”
Applications
All listeners
- Study the history of Israel to derive profit and admonition for our own lives as a people of God and as a congregation.
- As a church, we are responsible for the discovering and purging of sin from our ranks, not simply trusting God or others.
- We, as a church, must feel that corporate responsibility to deal with any sin that warrants discipline, causing us to search our own hearts.
- Realize that God's glory is greater than all human ties, and affection to Him and the purity of His body must take precedence over all human relationships.
- Set yourself apart from every other concern and give yourself to the matters of this very vital moment when God calls for special dealings.
- Be willing to relinquish legitimate hours of sleep, family privileges, and normal preaching routines if God calls for special dealings in humiliation, fasting, and prayer.
- Do not be so wedded to normal patterns that you cannot hear God's voice calling to special times of sanctification, or having heard, will not respond.
- Establish proper priorities, rising early to pray and deal with God, rather than scheming and planning, or offering weary sighs at the end of the day.
- Have direct, personal, inward, experimental, vital dealings with God, not just warming a pew or dealing with hymn books and Bibles.
- Recognize that God, who knows all your secret sins, gives you space for repentance; do not mistake His mercy for relinquishment of His commitment to judgment.
- Embrace the space of repentance God gives through gospel preaching, understanding that future judgment is certain for those who will not repent and believe.
- If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged of the Lord; deal with specific sins (Babylonish garments, wedges of gold) to avoid God's rod of chastisement.
- Do not foolishly mistake God's space of repentance for unprincipled leniency.
- Be sobered by God's call to trembling, and do not laugh when you ought to be weeping.
A full transcript is available on the tab. 184 paragraphs, roughly 54 minutes.
Introduction: The Sin of Achan and God's Ultimatum
As we turn to Joshua 7, there's one announcement I failed to make.
The introductory packets, the three cassettes, which are the official launching of the cassette ministry, have all been mailed to those whose names were submitted. If any of you desires to have that packet or to have it sent to someone, please turn in your name or the names of those to whom you wish the packet to be sent. The price is one dollar for that packet of three cassettes. Cassettes. Please print clearly or type those names and addresses and then give them to Mr. Philbrook, please.
We resume our studies this morning in Joshua chapter 7,
this passage of the word of God dealing with the general subject of the sin of Achan.
Because the scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 11, concerning an incident in the history of the life of Israel, that these things happened unto them by way of example and are written for our admonition, it is proper that we should study the history of Israel, asking ourselves the question, what profit and admonition may we derive from that history? And so we have been seeking to expound the narrative as it comes to us and then apply it very closely and specifically to our own lives, life as a people of God, and in particular to the circumstances in which we find ourselves as a congregation in this present hour. Thus far we have seen that the sin of Achan was basically a sin in which he took of a forbidden thing and retained what was to be consecrated unto God. That sin provoked the anger of God. Verse 1 of chapter 7, The anger of God was manifested in the withholding of his blessing for conquest.
They are defeated at Ai. The next paragraph, verses 6 through 9, is a record of the prayer of Joshua and the elders. That prayer becomes preparation for the purging of the sin. We are now studying verses 10 through 15, the paragraph in which we have God's pronouncement to Joshua, which gives the directives for the purging of the sin.
In our study thus far we have seen that this paragraph contains a command of God, get up, a rebuke from God, why liest thou thus upon thy face, an indictment from God, Israel hath sinned, and then five lines of that indictment. They have transgressed the covenant, they have taken of the devoted thing, they have stolen, they have dissembled, they have put it amongst their own stuff. And then God issues an ultimatum in verses 12 and 13. The ultimatum being that he will not be amongst his people unless they destroy the devoted thing.
And I believe all of our hearts were sobered last Lord's Day as we studied that ultimatum in detail. The frightening prospect that the presence of God in power, is withdrawn from any community of people in covenant relationship to God, who will not deal with their sin. I will not be amongst you except you destroy the devoted thing. Now we come this morning to the fifth line of thought in this paragraph, and it is the summons of God to action.
God's Summons to Action: To Whom It Came
From the command, the rebuke, the indictment, the ultimatum, we come in verses 13 through 15 to a consideration of the summons of God. Up, sanctify the people against, and say, sanctify yourselves against tomorrow. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, there is a devoted thing in the midst of thee, O Israel. Thou canst not stand before thine enemies until ye take away the devoted thing from among you.
In the morning therefore ye shall be brought near by your tribes, and it shall be that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come near by families, and the family which the Lord shall take shall come near by households, and the household which the Lord shall take shall come near man by man. And it shall be that he that is taken with the devoted thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath, because he hath transgressed the covenant, the covenant of the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel. This portion that I've read contains a summons to action. A summons is a call or an order to come, to appear, or to perform some action. Therefore, summons is the right word, for God is calling His people to specific action. Now, there are two main things in the text before us this morning. First of all, there is an indication of those to whom the summons came, and then secondly, the directives which the summon contained.
First of all, then, to whom did this summons come? We noted last week that the ultimatum came not only to Joshua, though it did come to him first, but the ultimatum came to the entire nation, the nation of Israel. So, likewise, the summons does not come to Joshua alone. It even more directly comes to the nation as a whole.
Look at the wording of verse 13. Up, sanctify the people, that is, the nation, and say, sanctify yourselves against tomorrow. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, there is a devoted thing in the midst of thee, O Israel, thou, corporate, thou, as a nation, canst not stand before thine enemies until ye, not Joshua, not I, Jehovah, but ye, the nation of Israel, until ye take away the devoted thing from among you. And then the very directives of verse 14, which involve the entire nation, the heads of the tribes, the heads of families, the heads of household.
God was underscoring this principle, that He was summoning, summoning the entire nation of Israel to deal with the sin of Achan. Now, why did God give such directions? Would it not have been easier to reveal the sin to Joshua? Simply by direct revelation to say to Joshua, Joshua, there is a man named Achan of such and such a tribe, and such and such a family, and such and such a household.
He is the guilty one. Go deal with him. Or, would it not have been easy for God to deal with him directly, as He did with Nadab and Abihu, and others who sinned against Him? Why did God make clear in this summons, that all of the nation was to be involved in this work of discovering and purging the sin within its ranks?
Reasons for Corporate Involvement in Purging Sin
The answer is a very fundamental answer. God wanted to show them, that as the whole, community shared in the crippling effect of the sin of the one, they must all share in the purging of the sin of the one. That would do three things, at least, to the whole nation. First of all, it would cause a great searching of heart throughout the entire nation.
If God were simply to single out Achan, others could breathe easy. But when this announcement came from Joshua to the entire nation, the whole nation is to be sanctified. The whole nation is to give itself to the purging of this sin. It would cause everyone within the nation to ask the question, Lord, is it I?
How dare I be engaged in seeking to ferret out the sin of another, if the sin may be found lodging within my own heart, or within my own tent? Secondly, it would cause a determination, to deal with the sin at any cost. Achan had some brothers and sisters. Achan had some cousins.
Achan had a father and a mother, and maybe a grandfather and a grandmother. And when God says to the nation, I will not be with you until you destroy the devoted thing, and by destruction I mean consuming it and them with fire. Can you imagine the tremendous test of a person's willingness to deal with sin at any cost? Though after searching my own mind I may come to the conclusion, I do not possess the accursed thing, I may begin to ask the question, could it be my brother?
Could it be my sister? Could it be my father? Could it be my cousin? Could it be my son?
Could it be my daughter? But God is calling us as a nation, without any respect to natural affections, to find the guilty one and to consume him with fire. I say the second effect of this would be to cause a determination to deal with sin at any cost. And the third effect would be, it would bring fear upon all by way of example.
If God were to strike Achan dead and consume him with fire from heaven, it might be done in a corner and secretly. But when the whole nation is paraded out, in the presence of God and of each other, and God singles out the one man and publicly he is discovered, stoned and consumed with fire, tremendous fear will settle into the whole congregation. If God will thus deal with one of our number, may he not thus deal with me if I become guilty of similar sin? Now the principle involved in this summary, the summons coming to the entire nation, is a principle carried right on into the New Testament. The principle again, let me give it to you, that the purging of the sin of one man in the covenant community is the corporate responsibility of the whole community. We are not simply to trust God or others, but as a church we are responsible for the discovering, and the purging of sin from our ranks. Let me give you just a few pivotal New Testament passages.
New Testament Warrant for Corporate Church Discipline
Passages that have well nigh been ripped from the canon of practical obedience in modern evangelical church life. In Matthew chapter 18, our Lord anticipating the full expression of his church, gives a directive concerning its ordering and its discipline. Verse 15, If thy brother sin against thee, his sin has just been against one individual within the covenant community, but it is a specific, discernible sin. Go, show him his fault between thee and him alone.
If he hear thee, that is if he acknowledges sin, repent and confess it, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he hear thee not, you see sin, only the sin of one man against another man, but it is sin in the covenant community. So serious that Jesus says you don't let it lie. You don't just sit there and hope you'll wake up some morning and it's gone.
No, no, it must be dealt with. If he will not hear you, then he says, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three, every word may be established. And if he refused to hear them, now what was his sin? It was sin only against one individual, but it was specific sin.
It was a Babylonish garment. It was some wedge of gold, some shekels of silver. He says if he refused to hear them, tell it unto the church, the whole congregation, out of which he comes, in which he lives and moves. Tell it to the church, not the consistory, not the presbytery, not the synod, not the elder.
And if he refused to hear the church, let him be unto thee as the Gentile in the public. We are no longer to administer corporal punishment with stones and fire, but the severance from the covenant community is just as radical, just as radical. The stoning and the burning of Achan cut him off from the covenant community. God says when the Achan is discovered in the midst, the church is to deal with him, and if he will not repent, he is to be cut off and regarded as the heathen and the publican.
Now whose responsibility is that? The church's responsibility. Granted, under the wise direction and counsel of its elders, yes, but never assumed by the elders and performed by proxy by them. And all the attempts in the books on church order to say, well, the church means the church representatively in terms of its elders, is a mere butchering of the scriptures.
It's not exposition and exegesis. It is a resting of the scriptures to suit a very comfortable attitude amongst God's people, leave the dirty work of discipline to someone else. Then I don't need to have my heart searched. Then I don't need to fear.
Then I don't need to come to that place where I'm willing to deal with sin at any cost. Then, of course, you have the very clear instances in 2 Thessalonians, demonstrating the same principle, that the discipline of the offending member is the responsibility of the entire congregation. And that's the only reason I'm reading these passages, to show that when I say we have a fundamental principle in Joshua 7, I am not putting it there because I want to put it there. I am stating it because it is there.
And the New Testament warrants such a statement. 2 Thessalonians 3, 6, Now we command you, elders, we command you, brethren, not just the elders, we command you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye, brethren, the church there at Thessalonica, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which they received of us. Verse 14, And if any man obeyeth not our word by this epistle, note that man, who? All of the brethren, that ye have no company with him to the end.
That he may be ashamed. And then, of course, the classic passage, 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Here is a member of the church at Corinth, guilty of a sin of incest, a form of immorality that even the pagans frown upon.
And here it's being tolerated there in the church at Corinth. It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication, or uncleanness as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one of you hath his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and did not rather mourn that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. If the aching will not repent, he is to be cut off.
Now, who is to do the cutting off? For I, verily, being absent in body, but present in spirit, have already, as though I were present, judged him that hath so wrought this thing. I have made my judgment, he says. But, he says, the pronouncing must come from what group?
In the name of our Lord Jesus, ye being gathered together. There it is. The corporate activity of the church. And my spirit, with the power of the Lord Jesus, to deliver such and one unto Satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the Lord, in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Your glorying is not good, know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out the old leaven. Who is responsible for this? The church at Corinth.
When ye are gathered together, deliver such and one. You, as a congregation, are responsible to purge out the leaven. And then from verse 9 and following, he expands upon this directive. Now the ends God has in view are precisely the same as in Israel's day.
We, as a church, must feel that corporate responsibility to deal with any sin that warrants discipline. Why? That searching of heart may come to us. How dare I take pardoning my brother or sister if I am guilty of the same or even greater sins?
It causes me to search my own heart. It causes me to realize God's glory is greater than all human ties. If you want to feel pain, you begin to share in the discipline of your own flesh and blood or someone who's closer than a physical brother. And you begin to see where your affections really lie.
And God says, I don't care whose intimate friend he is, whose dear bosom pal he is, he's to be cut off. Affection to me and my glory and the purity of my body is to take precedence over all human ties. And then it brings the sense of dread and holy fear. And that's precisely what happened to the church at Corinth when she exercised discipline upon that offending man.
2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 11. Look at it. What happened when, as a congregation, they heard the summons to purge sin from their midst? Here's what happened.
Verse 11. And I'm not just lifting it out of the context. A careful reading of the context. A consultation of the best commentators.
Will reveal that this is dealing with what happened when they dealt with that offending brother. For behold this selfsame thing that ye were made sorry after a godly sort. What earnest care it wrought in you. What clearing of yourselves.
Not just the brother, but clearing of yourselves. What indignation. What fear. What longing.
What zeal. What avenging. You see what he said happened? When as a congregation you no longer prided yourselves in your loving evil.
For they were puffed up about it. He says you're puffed up about this. That such sin is in your midst. But you're puffed up with your breath and catholicity of spirit.
That you can tolerate such a person among you. He says when you began to take seriously your responsibility to deal with that sin. What happened? He said you got your own heart cleansed out.
What clearing of yourselves. What indignation. You began to be angry at the things that angered God. What longing.
What zeal. What avenging. It had all of these salutary effects upon the entire congregation at Corinth. Oh beloved when will we learn not to be wiser than God?
When will we learn not to seek to be wiser than God? And one of the great means that God has ordained. God has ordained for the maintenance of purity in the church. And therefore of power upon the church.
Is the corporate activity of the church in the disciplining of itself and its members. Hence the summons came to the entire nation of Israel. Alright then. Second major division of our study.
Directives of the Summons: Call to Sanctification
What directives did this summons contain? We see that it came to the entire nation. What directives did it contain? And I don't know how far we'll get this morning.
But there are three basic directives in this summons. The first one is a call to sanctification. Look at it. Up sanctify the people and say sanctify yourselves against tomorrow.
Then secondly it contains a pattern for inquisition. Verse 14. In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribe. By your families.
By your households. And then the man. A call to sanctification. A pattern for inquisition.
And then thirdly in verse 15. There is a mandate for retribution. And it shall be that he that is taken shall be burnt with fire. Those then are the three basic ingredients of this summons.
A call to sanctification. Up sanctify the people and say sanctify yourselves against tomorrow. Now how did Joshua understand those words? Well fortunately we know that he heard them before.
He heard them as the people of God were preparing to cross Jordan. For God had given a similar command to sanctify the people. Those words had been spoken when Israel was gathered by Mount Sinai. When God was about to give them the law.
In that awesome manifestation of his holiness and his power. Now this phrase sanctify the people. Was a directive that came to the Israelites. In critical periods of their history.
God was calling them to a national sanctification. The basic meaning of which was this. To sanctify anything. To set it apart for the special use of God.
Therefore God is saying. You are going to have special dealings with me. And I am going to have special dealings with you. That's why they had to be sanctified at the foot of Sinai.
God says I'm going to have special dealings with you. I'm going to give you my law written by my own finger. Set yourselves apart for this special dealing. With myself.
When God was about to bring them over the Jordan River. This was a special dealing of God with his people. Therefore he says sanctify yourself. Now when the word comes.
God is saying to his people. I'm about to have special dealings with you. I'm going to deal with you in an unusual way. That's the general meaning of the phrase sanctify yourselves.
Now more precisely. In some cases. This sanctification involved that which was outward and material. But it always involved that which was inward and spiritual.
Sometimes when it was outward and material. It involved the washing or the changing of their garments. And the abstinence from natural normal sexual contacts between husbands and wives. Exodus 19.10 Exodus 19.15 God said. Change or wash your garments. Come not near a woman.
Now why did God do that? Well for the simple reason. And I mentioned it earlier in the service. That we are so constituted as human beings.
Creatures of the earth. Man is of the earth earthy. That the external, the physical and the tangible. Can often powerfully affect the inward and the spiritual.
That's why in the new covenant. Which is primarily a covenant of inward blessings. God has still given us the waters of baptism. And the bread and the fruit of the vine.
That by the external symbols. There might be inward spiritual experience and reality. Fed upon and reckoned with. And so when God would call the nation to sanctify itself.
And demand of them. A changing of their garments. Or a washing of the garments. Or abstinence from natural normal sexual contact.
Between husbands and wives. What was he saying? He was saying. Having dealings with me in a special way.
Is of such importance. That I want you to be reminded of it. When you get up in the morning. And you look in your mirror.
And you realize. Well today is Sunday. But I've got on my Sunday best. It will remind you.
This is a special day. God's going to have special dealings with you. And when the wife began to snuggle up. To the husband or vice versa.
And they said. No, no. We're sanctified unto God. It was a reminder.
We're having dealings with God. Very practical God is. In reminding his people. Of their responsibilities to him.
Now in this instance. Was it a call. Simply to inward and spiritual sanctification. Or also to the outward and material as well.
I don't know. But one thing is clear. Whether Joshua demanded. That there be a change of garments.
And the abstinence of natural sexual contact. During that night. One thing is clear. God never called to her.
And that was the curse of the Pharisees. And of the Jewish nation. In her periods of decadence. She thought.
If I have the outward. Then God is pleased. And God says. I'm sick and tired of your fasting.
And all your outward trappings of religion. I want the heart to be affected. Jesus said to the Pharisees. Outwardly appear beautiful unto men.
You fast to be seen of men. And so God never called to the external. Without the internal. So whether he called to the external.
Here is a matter of little importance. One thing is clear. God says to his people Israel. My crown is upon you.
I'm not going to be with you. If the sin is to be purged. You are to have special dealings with me. I am to have special dealings with you.
And because of this. Set yourself apart. From every other concern. And give yourself.
To the matters. Of this very vital moment. Now by way of application. The word of God.
Application of Sanctification: Prioritizing God's Dealings
To our own hearts. I trust is clear. As with Israel. So with the people of God.
At any period of their history. There will be times. When God calls us. To come to him.
In the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Here. And a real. Mission. From God.
To the. Mississippi. �. which was a horde of locusts.
And so impending was this judgment that God calls for a similar national sanctification. Verse 15, Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify the assembly, assemble the old men, gather the children, and those that suck the breast, the little ones who aren't even weaned yet. And they didn't get weaned at four months in those days. So we can assume they were maybe between two and three years of age.
But little infants, he says, get the old men, get them out of the rooms, get out of the retirement centers, get the little children from playing in the playroom. And then God makes an awful demand, let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber and the bride out of her closet. It's their wedding night, and God says, let them forget their honeycomb, something so critical has come to the life of the nation. Old man, young man, those that suck the breast, bridegroom and bride, let the priests, let the ministers, let them all come together.
I am about to have dealings with you in judgment. You better have unusual dealings with me in humiliation and fasting and prayer, or my judgment will fall upon you.
You find such instances recorded in the book of Acts, when Peter, a key leader, in the purpose of God to found his church, is in danger. The scripture says, and prayer was made of the church for him.
The bride came out of her closet and the bridegroom from his chamber. And the old and the young, here was a matter of corporate concern that meant the people of God set themselves apart to have special dealings with God. It may mean at times that we have to relinquish legitimate hours of sleep, legitimate family privileges and responsibilities. It may mean that we shall have to give up the normal course of preaching.
And God have mercy on us as a church if we're so set in our form and our traditional way of doing things that you'd be shocked if some Lord's day I rise in the pulpit and say there will be no call to worship from the Psalms. There will be no opening Psalm of praise. There will be no reading of our consecutive reading of the New Testament. There will be no exposition.
There will be nothing but the seeking of the face of Almighty God. And then lay before you that which is the burden of that hour. Don't you think that's strange? It's a sad thing to say it's possible to go to a church for 50 years and never once have the old round of activities interrupted.
And crisis after crisis can pass us in the world and in the church. And we never sanctify ourselves unto the Lord. What a tragedy. And I wonder, dear ones, I wonder.
I'm not saying I know, but I wonder. I wonder if God isn't doing something like this with us with regard to this whole matter of the impasse with our land, building, whatever it be. I wonder. Because he's allowed a spirit of despair, not despair of unbelief, a faithful despair, and blessed confusion to rest upon the hearts of the elders and deacons.
We look at one another and we just shake our heads and say, we don't know what the answer is. I wonder if God isn't saying to us, I sanctify the people. I want to have dealings with you as a people. And I don't want the people to be robbed of the blessing of my dealings.
I wonder. I don't know. I'm just saying I wonder. For here we have the precedent.
And set in God's dealings with his people, Israel. So then there is the call to sanctification. And God have mercy upon us if we're so wedded to the normal patterns that we cannot hear his voice calling to such times or having heard his call so set in our ways that we will not respond. Then in the second place, and we'll have time just to deal with this, God then gives them the pattern for inquisition in verse 14.
Directives of the Summons: Pattern for Inquisition
For you kids, you know what an inquisition is? It's an official inquiry or investigation. When you read church history, if it isn't written by those favorable to the Roman Catholic cause, the word inquisition cannot be used without thinking of the 13th century and the frightening Romish inquisition in which everyone who was of heretical views, all who were Protestants, who confessed the truths that we hold dear, were searched out and committed, to cruel and unspeakable forms of punishment and death. So an inquisition, you see, is an official inquiry or investigation.
And that's precisely what we have before us. God is saying, I'm giving you a pattern, Joshua, for an official inquiry and investigation that will discover the cause of my frown amongst you. Look at the details, strange details. I read them often in the past week, and wondered, Lord, why?
And I think maybe I've begun to understand a little bit why. In the morning, therefore, verse 14, ye shall be brought near, the first group that's mentioned is the tribes. And it shall be that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come near by families. And the family which the Lord shall take shall come near by households.
And the household which the Lord shall take shall come near man by man. Notice, first of all, the time of the inquisition. Secondly, the manner of the inquisition. And thirdly, the purpose of the inquisition.
What was the time of the inquisition? God was very specific. He didn't say, sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and any time tomorrow do this. He said, sanctify yourselves against or in the light of what will happen tomorrow and in the morning, therefore.
Now, why did God say that? Well, He understands us. He knows our frame. He knows what we're made of.
And He knows that left to ourselves, we will always allow lesser matters to so fill the mind and eat away at the time that the most important things we need are either totally neglected or are performed at the end of the day when there is very little mental and spiritual energy left to give ourselves to them. So, God says, in the morning. The poor people forget that they are sanctified. They are set apart to have special dealings with me.
They must recognize from the moment they awake that tomorrow is no ordinary day. In the morning, God is making it evident that the issues at stake were so grave as to warrant no delay. When Mr. Fisher had his intense stomach pains and the doctor made the analysis, that he had an appendix about to rupture, there was only one thing that mattered.
Emergency appendectomies can't wait. Doctor says, now or never. Get it out or you're on your way out.
That's what God's saying here. Israel, get the sin out or you're on the way out. Therefore, in the morning...
Oh, dear ones, when will we learn as God's people to establish proper priorities? Our Lord rises early to pray. And we rise early to scheme and to plan and then somehow blow that black smoke of our weary sighs in the face of God at the end of the day.
Here God is saying, dealings with me are first. Now, what was to be the manner of the Inquisition? The time in the morning. The manner?
It was to be a dealing from the greatest divisions of the nation to the smallest. Tribes. Tribes. Family, household, and man.
And we'll go into more detail when we expound the next paragraph. But you see what God is doing. He didn't have the whole nation come and all the tribes. He took the heads of the tribes and will show you that there were such things.
Appointed heads of the tribes. And then it says that the Lord would take them. Now, how did He take them? And the commentators are divided.
I personally am convinced it was by the lot.
They would take some old potsherds. They would scratch on it, maybe the initial of the twelve tribes. And they'd put them in an urn and they'd shake it up and Joshua would reach in and he'd pull it out. And out would come the J for the tribe of Judah.
And then they would bring together the heads of the various families. And they'd write on the potsherd the initials of all of them, put them in the urn and shake it up and reach in and draw it out until finally God says, I will narrow it down to the man who is guilty. Now, what was the purpose of this manner of Inquisition? If God can guide the lot or the Urim and the Thummim, which some commentators feel were used, couldn't He reveal from heaven or to Joshua who the guilty party was?
Purpose of the Inquisition: God's Sovereignty, Omniscience, and Mercy
Why go through this long process? You see, God is sovereign in His workings, but He's not arbitrary or capricious. He's wise. May I lay before you as our closing thoughts this morning that there were three great reasons as to why God chose this method to make Inquisition.
The first one was this. To make it evident that their dealings were not with Joshua and the elders, but with God Himself.
God wanted His people to know that they were dealing not with Joshua and the elders, but with God Himself. If Joshua had picked out the man by direct revelation, they would tend to think, well, Joshua found him out. But when they see, as the whole nation would be able to see, that urn into which the potsherds were placed, shaken, and one after another, God narrowing the thing down until Achan is taken, the odds against such a thing mathematically astronomical, they would know that we are dealing not with man, but with the living God Himself. The second thing they would know is this. They would be reminded of the nature and character of that God with whom they had to do. He was the all-knowing, all-seeing God. Hebrews 4.13
All things are naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. There amongst all the multitudes of Israel, amongst all the feverish activity of the destruction and the overthrow and the burning of Jericho, you mean that God could actually see one man amidst the thousands? One man amidst the multitudes? One wedge of gold?
One little handful of silver? One little guy? God says, Yes, I see and I know it all.
That's why the little phrase is used again and again. The tribe which the Lord taketh and the household which the Lord shall take. Three times the phrase is used. The Lord shall take.
The Lord shall take. The Lord shall take. Who is the Lord? Jehovah, covenant with Israel.
He is the God whose eye runs to and fro throughout the whole earth beholding the evil and the good. And then the third reason for God dealing this way is a gracious one. God was granting space for repentance.
That's what God was doing. God did not seize upon the man immediately as he might have done, as we referred earlier, he did with Nadab and Abihu. But what did God do? God brought them all out to hear these words.
These words, all of you must be gathered tomorrow as a sanctified nation. You'll be brought by, by tribes, by household, by families, by man. Achan heard those words. There was no doubt that God knew who he was.
There was no doubt of what would happen. Notice the certainty. And the tribe which the Lord shall take and the family which the Lord shall take and the household which the Lord shall take. What is God saying?
He said, but there is space for repentance. For until we've passed through the process of the tribe to the household, to the family, and to the man, there'll be no stoning. Here is space for repentance.
We've all seen and laughed at that white owl ad. Sooner or later we're going to get you.
That's what God will say. Say, I'm going to get you. I know who...
But before I get you,
I extend the arms of mercy.
The New Testament text, it's the best commentary on this, Romans 2, 5. And knowest not that the goodness of God leads you to the right path. And leadeth thee to repentance. God in His goodness, withholding judgment, giving space for repentance, but saying, my judgment will come.
And if you're foolish enough, whoever you be in Israel, guilty one, I know you, but I will not speak your name now, but I will find you. If you're foolish enough to think you can avoid me, the stones will be heaped upon you and the fire will consume you. And you will be a monument to the truth of my word. Be sure your sin, will find you out.
Contemporary Application: Dealing with God, His Nature, and Repentance
And oh dear ones, those three reasons for God's dealing in this way are as relevant today as any principle of Holy Scripture. God wants continually to remind us that in our dealings with Him, we are dealing not with those whom He's placed over us, those who He's placed around us, but in our corporate life and worship, we are having direct dealings with the living God as direct as will our dealings be with Him in the day of judgment. Let me ask you this morning, have you had direct, personal, inward, experimental, vital dealings with God? Or you just had dealings with the pew, warming it for an hour and a half? Dealings with the hymn book! Dealings with your Bible!
And that's what it's all about! Dealings with God! Pack up shop! We are built in the habitation of God through the Spirit, and God wonderfully overrules even the sins of His people and the whole exercise of discipline within the congregation to remind us that we're having dealings with God and secondly to remind us that the nature and character of that God is such that He is the all-knowing, all-seeing God.
All things are naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. He is not ignorant of that little bit of dishonesty He is not ignorant of that little bit of dishonesty He is not ignorant of that little bit of dishonesty that went on in secret, that bit of cheating done in school on the last two questions of that exam last week. He's not ignorant of that cutting the corners on the income tax form. He's not ignorant amidst all the 200 millions of our country and the two and a half going on to three billions of the world of air action from His Holy Lord.
He sees it all. He knows it all. Even the thoughts and the intents of the mind and of the heart.
But that God who knows it all knows us and could consume us as He knew Achan and could consume him. He gives us space for repentance. He says, I'm going to get you. He that believeth not shall be damned.
But He says also, today is the day of salvation. Today, if you hear His voice and you see the folly of Achan, He mistook the extension of God's mercy for relinquishment of His commitment to judgment. The extension of mercy, for the...
And that's exactly what Paul says in Romans. Knowing not that the goodness of God leads to repentance, but he said, after thy hardness and impenitent heart, you treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Oh, am I speaking this morning to man, woman, fellow, girl, teenager, here, downstairs. Am I speaking to someone who's heard once, twice, a thousand times except he repent shall perish.
He that believeth not shall be damned. And like an Achan, you got up this morning. No fire from heaven holds to seize upon you. You say, well, I'm getting away with another day.
Ah, my friend. God says, we're going to get you. God says, we're going to get you. My law, my justice, my truth, my veracity, I'm committed to destroy with everlasting destruction.
Every rebel sinner who will not repent and believe upon my son.
It's when you begin to take that seriously that the space for repentance becomes precious. And you say, oh, God, can it be that though I've sinned with a high hand as an Achan, you've given space for repentance. Oh, dear unconverted man, woman, boy, or girl, this is the space of repentance that God gives. That's why he's ordained, that's why he's ordained gospel preaching.
That's why he's told me this morning to give you the pledge by word of future judgment. He's not put in my hands the power as a preacher to bring the judgment upon you now. He didn't give that to Joshua. He didn't put in Joshua's hands the power of administering retribution immediately.
He said, just tell the people this is how it's to be done. And that's all I can do as a preacher is tell you how God is committed to do it. But he will do it. And listen to me, child of God, with that Babylonish garment still tucked away in the tent of your own heart, that wedge of gold God's been speaking these past mornings, your conscience has been very active.
You've been rationalizing. Listen to me this morning. If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged of the Lord. But when we are judged of the Lord, we are chastened.
We should not perish with the world. I believe with all my heart there are some of you, if you don't have dealings with God concerning specific sins as a result of this series of meetings, we're going to see an outbreak of temporal judgments.
I believe we're going to see an outbreak of temporal judgments.
Because God's been here these mornings giving us a little preview of the day of judgment. There's been a searching. Conscience has been active. And the searchlight has zoomed in upon us.
And if we can pass through such a season saying, oh well, a few more weeks and the heat will be off.
We'll be back in Ephesians or somewhere else. My friend, if we judged ourselves, we should not be judged of the Lord. That's the big if.
Whom the Lord loves, He chases and scourges every son whom He receives. If you don't start dealing with those Babylonish garments, those wedges of gold and shekels of silver, mark my word, some of you are going to feel the sting of God's rod of chastisement.
He's given you space to repent.
May God grant that we shall not foolishly mistake that space of repentance for unprincipled leniency in the part of God. God willing, next week we'll take up the third thing that's in this summons, the mandate for retribution. To whom does it come? Achan and all that he is.
What will it be? Will it be consumed with fire? Why? Because of sin against God, because of sin against the people of God.
But just these thoughts this morning, I believe, are sufficient to give us all fuel for meditation. May God sober us, dear ones. There are times when God calls to rejoicing. There are times when God calls to trembling.
And I believe God's brought us to a trembling time and God have mercy on us. If we're laughing when we ought to be weeping,
may the Lord speak. May we as a people be sanctified unto God to have dealings with him in a very special way in these very special days. Let us pray.
Prayer for Mercy and Obedience
Our Father, we read in your word that all things are naked and open before your eyes.
We confess to you that you know us all together.
We also acknowledge with shame that we so often try to act as though there were some corner of the heart that escaped your fiery gaze.
Lord, bless the word that has been preached this morning. Accomplish that purpose for which you have sent it forth.
We know not what else to do, Lord, but to cry to you to have mercy upon us.
Do not deal with us after our sins, nor reward us according to our iniquities. But, O Father, pity us and meet us. O God,
we are here before you. Speak, speak, we pray,
and give us grace to obey.
Grant that during the remainder of this day the word which we've heard this morning may do its blessed work in all of us. For Jesus' sake.
Amen.
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors. It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
This passage is the central text, detailing God's summons to Joshua and Israel to address Achan's sin through sanctification, inquisition, and retribution.
Texts Expounded
Also Referenced
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